Apparatus for controlling oil and gas wells



J. F. BO-WER Oct. 20, 1931.

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING OIL AND GAS WELLS Filed April 15, 1950 IN VENT OR WEE??? a lid ihdl son consonants ctr, Mac-as Appl cation filed April 15, 3.8%. Serial Ho. ciao-is.

invention to improvements in contt 3g the how of: gas and from under high pressure out of control. s of my invention are U oi this character which strong, positive ahle; which consists of but c. s, is easily applied and "ited, get out of ord r the purposes for which it is Q is emot U lo intended; to provide a controlling a paratus the anchoring of which is adapted to the weil casing oelcw the open end through which the production is escaping which mav he secured to the or of the ced-car by cable lines; a device so Xternal supports as c the casing the pressure load due to the closing of the well; to provide an capable of bein seated over the of casing devoid c threads or even broken with a ja ged :iracture; a device as havinga hinged h or bonnet with interior conical taper adapted to he swung over the open end of the weld casing from one side and then drawn down by powerful adjusting screws to aclosing fit; a device in which said so hood member is provided with an 0 en mouth having asharp lip adapted to eflect the stream of oil and was into and through said hood with very little obstruction to said stream as the hood is being swung into osition over the casing; a 'device ada to for connecting with casin nipples an master gate valves for final c osing in of the well; an apparatus capable of being seated on the casing, anchored to the cellar and swun into place entirely independent of the derrlck so I that it maybe successfully used even if the derrick has been destroyed.

The method now used to control a well flowing wild is to assemble couplings, nipples, valves and pi es, raise this massive assembly above the eav flow of gas and oil and then lower the sai assembly squarely over the open casing, stabbing it down unt1l connection is made and the assembly is screwed into place. There isv great dangerv that sparks may result from said assembly striking the casing and setting the on fire, thus involving an immense fire hazard. This method also the use of a der= rich, and cannot be dead in case derrick has been destroyed.

device elimiziatestsese de by reason of the fact my hood hecomes an integral part 011 two casing and the to screw threads on vibration so detrimental the end of the casing has no ei ect to loosen hood connection. W 1th these and other ohgects in view as wi l more hilly my invention consists of the construction, novel features, and com-- I loination of arts more full. described pointed out in the claims hereto appended,

and illumtrated in the accompanying one sheet drawings, of which,

Figure l is a bent elevation oi my up paratus partly in section and broken away; Fl 2 is a side elevation partly in section; on Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my support collar. e I

Like characters of reference designate like parts in all the figures.

it is understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size, shape, weight, and other details oit' construction, within the scope of my invention may be resorted to without departing "from the spirit or broad rinciple of my invention and without sacriheing any of the advantages thereof, and that the drawings are to be interpreted as heingillusti'ative axid'hct restrictive.

@ne embodiment of my invention is shown as follows: The numeral 1 represents the well casing the open end of which is shown at 2-. My flanged clamps 3 are provided with holes 4 for attaching cables 5 adapted to anchor said clamps to the cellar walls or floor. Clamp bolts 6 secure clamps Sin position on said ,casing 1. The inner surface of clamps 3 which contacts said casing 1 may be milled and roughened the better to grip said casing 1 but I do not depend upon this except as auxiliary anchorage for cables 5 will secure my device against upward movement. I provide a plurality of perforated lugs 7 on said clamps 3 through which I pass my powerful adjusting screws 8. Adjusting nuts 9 are positioned on said screws 8 between said lugs 7 and said screws 8 and nuts 9 may be fixed in any desired position by lock nuts 10. The upper ends of screws 8 terminate in hinge connections 11 adapted to seat on wrist pins 13 on hinge arms 12. Nuts 14 on said pins 13 seat on a shoulder on said pins 13 and provide a secure, free-acting hinge joint. My support collar 15 consists of member 16 having hook ends 18 adaptedto seat under connection 11 and partially enclose adjusting screw 8 when in its extended position as can best be seen in Fig. 2. Clamping member 17 of collar 15 together with bolts 19 provide a slidable connection to casing 1. As shown in Fig. 2 my support collar 15 will resist a force acting on connection 11 in one direction only. It can readily be understood that by using another collar 15 below the one shown but turned in the opposite direction my connection 11 will be held securely against forces acting both forward and backward. Hinge arms 12 form an integral part of my hood 20 having an interior conical taper 21 forming a bottle neck at 22. The lower front wall is cut away to form an open mouth 23 provided with a knife edge M. The back wall 25 ex tends below said mouth 23 and is adapted to seat against the wrapped packing 26 adjacent .the open end 2 of casing 1. Casing nipple 27 is'in threaded connection at 28 with said hood 20 and seats on shoulder 29 in said hood 20 forming a smooth, unobstructed connection with bottle-neck 22. Master gate valve 30 is secured to said nipple 27 and nipple 31. said nipple 31 may have other valves and connections as may be deemed necessary but which form no part of my invention. To said nipple 31 I attach casing clamp-32 provided with rings 33 and 34. Having clamp 32 attached as shown in Fig, 2, provides ample leverage for swinging my apparatus over the open end 2 of casing 1 by means of block and tackle 35 attached to ring 34 and eased over bv block and tackle 36 attached to ring 33. The said blocks and tackle 35 and 36 can be anchored to deadmen buried beyond the derrick base at angles of 120 degrees, more or less, from each other and thus no part of my apparatus is dependent upon the derrick for assist ance.

In installing and using my apparatus, clamps 3 are positioned on casing 1 at the proper distance below end 2 thereof, two members 16 of collars 15 are placed on top of said clamps 3, said members 16 facing in opposite directions and having hooks 18 in alinement with the perforations in lugs 7. adjusting nuts 9 are placed between said lugs 7, adjusting screws 8 previously secured to hinge arms 12 are slipped down through said members 16, said upper lugs 7 and. into con- :said per said nuts, a hood member, hinge arm bifurca- 1,saa,124

tact with nuts 9. Nuts 9 are screwed up until screws 8 are through lower lugs 7, cables 5 are made taut, clamping members 17 of collars 15 are placed in position, said collars 15 are seated and clamped under hinge connection 11. My hood 20 and its nipple and valve connections will be in a recumbent position to one side of easing 1, the space immediately below the open end 2 of casing 1 will now be wrapped with hydraulic packing 26 of any suitable kind. Hood 20 and its connections will be raised to a semi-erect position, blocks and tackle 35 and 36 will be secured to their respective anchorages and said hood 20 will be swung forward until knife edge 24 enters the stream 37 of oil or gas and deflects said stream 37 into and through bottle neck 22 and easing nipple 27. Master gate valve 30 being wide open will offer no resistance to the (passage of said stream 37. When hood n 20 an its connections are vertically above casing 1, edge 25 of hood 20 will be in perfect alinement with screws -8. Su port collars 15 will be released and allowe to slide down and seat on top of clamps 3, nuts 9 will be brought into action and hood-20 will be forced down over packing 26 and end 2 of easing 1 until said casing 1 and packing 26 are tightly wed ed into the conical taper 21 above knife ed will then be seated under lower lugs 7 and fix screws 8 in any desired position. My adjusting screws 8 can be made so powerful that the end 2 of easing 1 can be crushed within the heavy walls of my hood 20 and said end 2 may be devoid of threads and broken off with a jagged fracture and I can still secure a perfect y tight Joint. At this stage the master gate valve can be closed and the well will be under control.

Having thus described my device what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described the combination of clamps adapted for encompassing a well casing and seating from the sides of said casing, flanges on said clamps, anchoring means on said flanges, a plurality of perforated lugs on said clamps, adjusting nuts adapted for seating between said lugs, adjusting screws suitable for passing throu h orated lugs and being actuated y tion on said hood and articulatin means between said hinge arms and sai adjusting screws.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of clamps adapted for encompassing a well casing and seating from the sides of said casing, flanges on said clamps,

. anchoring means on said flanges, a plurality of perforated lugs on said clamps, adjusting nuts adapted for seating between said lugs, adjusting screws suitable for passing through said perforated lugs and being actuated by ge 24 in bottle neck 22, lock nuts 10 said nuts, a hood member, hinge arm bifurcation on said hood, articulating means between said hinge arms and said adjusting screws, support collars for said screws slidably clamped to said casing, said hood having an interior conical taper with bottle-neck terminus, an openmouth on the front of said hood provided with a knife edge adapted to. deflect a stream of oil and gas into and through said hood, threaded connection and shoulder means on said hood for a casing nipple adapted to form a smooth, continuous passage with said bottle-neck, master gate valve and other casing nipple connections above said first nipple, and means for swinging said device into vertical al inement with said stream.

3. In a device of the class described the combination of clamp and anchor means for securing a plurality of powerful adjusting screws to a well casing, slidable support collar means for said screws, a hood having interior conical taper with bottle-neck terminus, bifurcated hinge arms on said hood adapted for co-acting with said collar supported screws, said hood having an open mouth adapted to swing over the o 11 end of a well casing, a downward extending wall on said hood behind said 0 en mouth adapted to seat against the side-o said casing when said hood is in vertical alinement with a stream of oil and gas spouting from said casing, a knife edge on said open mouth adapted to direct said stream into and through said hood, wrapped packing adjacent the open end of said casing, powerful adjusting nuts. on said adjusting screws adapted to lower said hood over said casing and seat said casing and said packing within said conical taper in said hood and form a leak-proof joint between said hood and said casin 4. i combination as defined in claim 1 in combination with: sharp lip and conical taper means on said hood for engaging the stream of oil and gas flowing uncontrolled hood.

JAMES F. BOWER.

-from a well, the said means causing the said streamto automatically pull the said hood and its attached connections into centralized position above said casin 5. A combination as efined in claim 2, means on said hood for engaging the stream of oil and gas flowinguncontrolled from a well, the stud means causing the said stream to hold said hood and its attached connections in position ready to be forced down into ongaging position on said casing.

6; A combination as defined in claim 1, in combination with: means for securing sa1d hood in fluid-tight contact with said casin and means for controlling the flow of oil an gas through said hoodv after it has been se- 

